Frightful, deadly, and usually supernatural things or events that one imagines in the dark of night. When I was a kid, I hated staying in my grandparents' spooky old house because I was always kept awake by thoughts of ghosts, axe murderers, and other things that go bump in the night.
This expression comes from The Cornish or West Country Litany : ‘From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us!’ The phrase is used as a humorous way of referring to nocturnal disturbances of all sorts.
(informal, humorous) strange or frightening noises, or things that cannot be explained by science: I don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, or things that go bump in the night.
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